Channel 5

1:52 pm

Thu March 28, 2013

Kind Hearted Woman

This series profiles Robin Charboneau (center), a 32-year-old divorced single mother and Oglala Sioux woman living on North Dakota’s Spirit Lake Reservation, as she struggles to raise her children, Anthony (left) and Darian (right).

This series profiles Robin Charboneau, a 32-year-old divorced single mother and Oglala Sioux woman living on North Dakota’s Spirit Lake Reservation.

Courtesy of Kimmer Olesak

In a special two-part series, acclaimed filmmaker David Sutherland (“The Farmer’s Wife,” “Country Boys”) creates an unforgettable portrait of Robin Charboneau, a 32-year-old divorced single mother and Oglala Sioux woman living on North Dakota’s Spirit Lake Reservation. Sutherland follows Robin over three years as she struggles to raise her two children, further her education and heal herself from the wounds of sexual abuse she suffered as a child.

Robin’s battles in tribal court with her ex-husband for custody of the children, even after he is convicted of abusive sexual contact with his daughter, illuminates how serious this problem is on the reservation. Her quest to heal her family, find a man worthy of her love, build a career and fulfill her goal of returning to her reservation to help prevent the abuse of women and children, takes her on an intimate and inspiring journey full of heartbreak, discovery and redemption.

“As in my other films profiling rural poverty,” says Sutherland, “I was trying to reach out to another forgotten corner of the American landscape, this time to put a face on a Native family so that we could see them close-up with all the detail that illuminates the rich reality of their lives.”

KIND HEARTED WOMAN is a special co-presentation of FRONTLINE and INDEPENDENT LENS.